I know I've been posting alot regarding my search for knowledge in benchrest shooting and trying to determine what rifle to buy, but I believe I am almost to the point of making a decision. As many of you have already seen I have been looking for a rifle that I could use for 1,000 yard bench rest shooting (for fun NOT competition, yet) and that might be able to be doubled for a deer hunting rifle (this is no longer a requirement, just icing on the cake).

I believe the 6.5x284 is my caliber choice (but still open to ideas), now what I want to try and figure out is if the Savage Long Range Hunter series or the Savage Target series rifles are in any way comparable to the custom built rifles used in long range competition?? I am very un-informed on the technical issues of the custom built rifles and what the differences are between them and rifles such as the Savage Target series. I know the target series looking very similar to the custom built rifles I have seen on the bench rest websites, but I know that looks can be deceiving.

I will be handloading all of my ammo in case anyone is wondering, and my price range is up to $1,200 and the rifle does not HAVE to double as a deer rifle. Any help on the comparisons between these two types of rifles and the price range for a custom built rifle compared to that of a stock Savage Target series rifle would be greatly appreciated!

I don't know how to tell you this, but you need to do a little more research on both benchrest shooting and 1,000 yard shooting.

A benchrest rifle will be at least 12 lbs and not suitable for hunting and while you can use a 1,000 yard rifle for hunting, it would be impractable since it would be set-up for the 1,000 yard distance and at 100 to 200 yards you will miss the target by a mile. (you are talking about a 36 inch or bigger drop at 1,000 yards so your scope and rail (20 MOA rail) will be set at too long a range).

I love and own Savage rifles and they are super accurate. But the type of accuracy that you are talking about is only gotten with specally built rifles and years of practice. There are no short cuts for Benchrest or 1,000 yard shooting.

Jim I have to disagree. I have a savage benchrest rifle in 308the that I shoot in competition just fine. And bullet drop at 1000 yards is a hell of a lot more than 36 inches. Even with angled ramps and what not bullet drop is feet. My k31 surplus military rifle with target ammo drops 42.1 feet at 1000 yards.

I shoot this from a sand bag rest. I never won a 1000 yrd match but im no where near the bottom of the list.

lately I have been shooting an m1a with a match barrel at 1000 yrds. thats a good time.

That is a nice rifle, but I haven't meet a Savage I did not like. You shoot your K31 at 1,000 yards (LOL) you are better man than me for sure.

I still think the OP needs to read up on what he wants to do before buying a rifle. There are no magic rifles out there that will make a world class shooter out of someone that does not know what it is all about, including me.

Not only do I not shoot 1,000 yards the closest range with that distance is over 150 miles away from me.

I mainly collect and shoot ww2 era rifles and I have to say i love the k31. on a trip to Switzerland i picked up a set of diopter sights for shooting out to 350 yards and the iron sights do 1000yrds pretty well just the windage is a challenge since you have to guess since there is no adjustment. at 1000 yards it takes 2 or 3 shots to figure out point of aim on the iron sights.

i agree though that some basic research and even a visit to a match to ask questions should be done by the op.

1000yrd shooting is some of the most challenging shooting you can do because of the number of variables but when you do hit the target that is the most amazing thing.

Thanks alot for all of the replies, and I have been trying to do a little research and learning more and more about how challenging it must be. I have never shot beyond 500 yards and that was difficult enough.

I aim to do plenty of research and be confident in my decision before I spend the money, however I do believe that I want to go ahead and get a suitable rifle for serious long range shooting because if I buy a Savage and a year later am ready to upgrade, then I'll lose a good chunk of that to depreciation and in my area there will not be much of a market for that type of gun. What I want to do is get a high quality long range rifle and let my skill level slowly grow into the potential of that rifle.

Can anyone give me a decent idea of price range for a high quality custom built bench rest rifle in 6.5x284, and also if there is a more popular and "better" caliber for 1,000 yard br shooting?

I've taken a different tact, my challenge is to myself... "how far can I shoot"? I'm challenging myself, my Cooper 54 Varmint in 260 Remington and my hand loading capabilities. I just retired so I have the time, the toys and an area where I can reach out 1,000 yards against a 16 inch steel target... will be an interesting summer!

I use a Model 110 Savage and a Mod- 12 FVSS and a Mod-12 FV Oh and my new Mod 116 Bear Hunter in 338 Win Mag. The 110 is a .223 and the 12's are .308 have used all of them out to and past a 1000 yards. It just takes time and patience to learn how to read the wind and know how far MOA's are compared to Mils. But when your done you will really enjoy going out and doing it.

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